Why I Love Working a Hotel Front Desk Job

Ron in a bemused state - 1980

I wrote this last night while I was working the front desk at the hotel in Lewes, DE where I am gainfully employed.  Usually I write my blogs off the top of my head after I get up in the morning and have breakfast.  Occasionally I will write a blog post in the evening but that is rare.  I almost never write a blog post in the afternoon, that's when I take my nap.

I'm going to start something new.  When I'm working at the hotel, especially during a slow period (like the off season), I'll write a blog posting and save it to post later.  In the past I didn't like to post this way because I thought my postings would be stale and not up to date but I find that while working, many great ideas flow through my head that are gone the next morning.  So what I have decided to do (if I have the time) is write a quick blog entry during those down times and save it in my file for editing and posting later.

I believe I can still have fresh and spontaneous blog postings plus I will be able to expand my range of subjects and, hopefully, make my posts more interesting.

So here is my blog post from my experience last night at the hotel.  By the way, the picture at the top of the blog post probably won't have anything to do directly with the post, especially the ones at the hotel because I have to respect the privacy of the hotel guests.  But you know me, I simply cannot post without putting some kind of visual display and almost all of mine are of photos that I took myself.  The one at the top of this blog is one I discovered recently that was taken 31 years ago (yes, THAT long ago) when I used to visit my friend Big Bob at his Ranch (uh huh) outside of Georgetown, Delaware in the late 70's and early 80's.  It is of me in a pensive mood which is somewhat appropriate to this blog posting.

So here goes:


There are many reasons why I like working at a hotel front desk but the best reason is you just never know who you're going to meet or what situation is going to confront you. 


I know this unpredictability would drive some of my friends to a state of frazzled state of aphrehension but not me.  I love the challenge! 


Tonight is a good example.  We had guests check in last night.  Tonight the female half of the two guests wanted to surprise her boyfriend with a gift.  She asks me to make a reservation for the two of them at a local upscale eatery which I do.  Then she surreptiously slips a boxed gift (I saw the Mac apple on it) and asks me to get it to the restuarant and have it on the table when they arrive for dinnr. She sees her friend approaching and whisks away from me to join him at the elevator to go to their room.


I'm thinking "How am I GOING TO DO THAT?"  The logistics I mean.  I give the box to the cab driver who is driving them to the restaurant.  But won't the gentleman think it's odd when the cab driver goes into the restaurant WITH them?  Uh huh.  Think Ron, THINK! 


I call the restaurant and talk to "John" and tell him what I'm trying to do which is accomodate my guest in surprising her male companion with gift from Apple.  He states the obivous "How are we going to get the gift/package on the table without them seeing it?"  I DON'T know.  My mind is a blank.  Talk about challenges.  I asked for it didn't I?


The cab driver arrives at the hotel.  I give him the bag and tell him what I'm trying to do.  I tell him to give the bag to John.  The cab driver makes a suggestion.  He says "I'll let them out and wait until they go in and then I'll go in and give the bag to John."  Superb!  Ralph the Cabdriver figured out what this 70 year old head coudn't figure out.


After I hang the phone up I hear the bell of the elevator and her male friend steps out and heads towards me.  He asks me "Do you have tape?"  I do and I give it to him.  He heads off into the lobby with HIS package and the tape.  I see my opportunity and I call her in her room and tell her that the restaurant host will approach their table with The Package/Gift after they are seated.  Does this sound like it's getting complicated?  Talk about World Peace.  Hey, this is what makes the hospitality industry go 'round.


She says "Oh no, we're going to the bar first.  Just have the package placed on the table where we are to dine."  Viola!  Done! 


Her friend comes back to the front desk and asks for scissors.  I give them to him.  He returns to the lobby to finish wrapping his gift.


I tell Ralph the Cabdriver our Plan of Attack.  I call John at the restuarnt and tell him.  He's just a tad annoyed with all my phone calls but he graciously accedes to my request. 


Her friend returns the scissors and the tape to me at the front desk.  He takes the stairs to their room on the fourth floor of the hotel, thus giving me time to call her and confirm our Plan.


I call her and tell her.  She says "Great!"


Fifteen minutes later I hear the bell of the elevator go "RING!"  They both step out, she's dressed to The Nines and he doesn't look bad either with his black T-shirt outlining his well developed pectorals.  Hey, I am gay after all you know.


As they're headed out the door she turns on her 5 inch stilletoes and makes a circle with her thumb and forefinger and winks at me.  I give her the same sign back sans the wink (I'm not a winker). 


I just had a call from Ralph the Cabdriver.  He said they just went in the restaurant.  He asked me to tell John to come out and get the bag.  I call John again.  Actually I'm starting to feel like a Pain now. 


A woman answers the phone. Her name is Jen.  I decide not to both John again.  I think he's one of the cooks or otherwise disposed because he didn't sound real enthused the last phone call.  I tell Jen of my Plan.


I tell her that Ralph the Cabdriver is out in the parking lot waiting for someone to pick up The Bag.  I explain to her to take the package out of the bag and place it on the table while the couple is at the bar.  EXCITMENT!  SUSPENSE!  DRAMA!  SERENDIPITY!  (actually, I don't know if that last word fits this situation but I like the word).


Ralph just called!  He said a woman came out and picked up the bag.  I told him that I talked to a woman and it was alright.  Then I thanked him with a MISSION COMPLETED!


No I sit here at the hotel front desk with Christmas music playing in the background.  The hotel is empty, the only other guest having left earlier for dinner at another one of our fine local dining establishments.


I think this is a good time to mop the floor.  My reinforcement for a Job Well Done comes later when the guests return and thank me profusely for being such an oustanding conceriege.


That's what it's all about folks!  I create MAGIC!

Watermelon Man

Today did not seem like Sunday. It's been very quiet. Bill and I just got back from visiting our friend Bob and Jim. Their friend Kenny is visiting them from Ohio. Kenny is out of work and will probably be moving in with Bob and Jim to look for work down here in lower slower....er Sussex County, Delaware. He says he won't accept anything less than $18.00 an hour. Lots of luck Kenny, I don't even think they pay chicken pluckers $18.00 an hour.

I worked at the hotel yesterday. We had almost a full house even though showers were forecast for the weekend. Our business has picked up since the economy picked up giving consumers confidence that they could spend a few extra discretionary dollars to visit our Nantucket style east coast resort in Lewes, Delaware. We have also offered a 20% discount on the rooms rates if the guests stay two or more nights. That helped also. It was good to see Mom and Dad and the kids stop by the front desk for towels and beach chairs on their way out to the beach. It reminded me of when times were good last year and the year before when we were booked almost every weekend during the summer. It seemed like it would last forever but the recent economy downturn really took a toll on the hospitality industry as well as other businesses like the restaurants. One restaurant, La Rosa Negra, even when out of business. I know of several other restaurants that are up for sale but no takers so far. I'm back on a two night a week schedule at least until the end of the season in the middle of September, then it's back to one night a week of the Overlook Hotel.

Bill and I were going to try a new restaurant for our weekly breakfast experience away from the home front. We haven't been too pleased with the quality of food of Zorba's, the restaurant that we have been going to every weekend for some time. I suggested the new Ocean Point Grill in Lewes. As we were parking our car at about 8 am this morning we saw another car with three huge adults (they looked like hippos) with three little kids under five years old (baby hippos) and one of the adults was carrying a basket with baby. Oh no. We wouldn't be going into this restaurant. There is little that I hate more than having a meal in a restaurant next to table full of squirmy kids and especially one with a basket. That baby does not want to be in the restaurant and you can be sure that baby will let you know by its piercing cries shortly after its Moses like basket is placed on the restaurant table. If we're really lucky, the little darling will need its diaper changed. That's what happened the last time I sat at a table next to an extended family (Mom, Pop, the grandparents and an in-law or two) and they plopped a basket full of baby on their table. The all to familiar sweet sickening smell of baby poop wafted over the room and then one of the adults said "Oh, look. Megan did a do do." How cute. So, Bill and I headed for Zorba's again. At least we were comfortable but the food was still mediocre. As we were leaving we spied another family bringing a baby basket into the restaurant. We got out just in time. Go home people! Leave us alone! Didn't you see that rainbow emblem on the door as you waddled in?

On the way back from Bob and Jim's, Bill saw a produce stand in Harbeson full of watermelon. It's right across from the Allen chicken processing plant (bad mems for me of all those chickens met their Final Destination at that plant.) We stopped and got a couple of watermelons. Bill will go through those watermelons this week. I get the rinds to put in my growing compost pile out in back of my shed. We're into recycling kitchen waste in this house.

It's now time for my daily walk back in Oyster Rocks. I enjoy the quality time that my evening walk provides for me. The only problem is that if I wait too the bugs come out and bombard me. At least the mosquitoes have taken a hiatus. Haven't seen or felt them around here for a few weeks now. Thank God for small blessings. I like taking my walks solo.

The week ahead looks good. I'm working tomorrow night at the hotel. There is an Event (hotel talk for a large group of people descending on the hotel.) A cocktail party for 50 plus is scheduled for the fortunate invited few. I'm not invited but I can clean up. Then I don't go to work again until Saturday during the day. Labor Day weekend. Should be fun. I'll take the extra time this week to get caught up on my 50th class reunion invitations and booklet that I'm preparing for the reunion. I baked my favorite lemon bundt cake early this morning while the temperatures were still cool. It's not as humid as it has been for the past two weeks. Maybe I can get some yard trimming in also. The week ahead is looking good as we enter into the end of the season down here in God's Country, Sussex County, Delaware. It's all good.

One More Day

Such a beautiful day today! Clear skies, gentle breeze. I have one more day on my current work schedule (3 to 11 PM tonight) before I have two days off. I enjoyed working the last four days. It has been awhile since I worked five consecutive days. I was unsure of how it would affect me but, apparently, I am managing. I'm even enjoying it! Working days is quite different than working evenings. Both are interesting but different. Prior to taking semi retirement a few years ago, I worked full time for approximately 43 years. My first job was running errands for my relatives in the apartment building I lived in on Washington Avenue, in Downingtown, Pennsylvania. I was only four years old at that time. Later, during school, I worked as a paper boy, office cleaner and weekends at Marty Brill's Meat Counter at the Downingtown Farmer's Market. I also worked as a dishwasher, gardener (read that as "weed puller") and orchard picker. Then it was three years service int he U. S. Army as a communications intercept specialist. After my Army service, I had a short time job as a hotel night auditor at the Pittsburgh Hilton Hotel in Pittsburgh, PA. Leaving Pittsburgh, I returned to Downingtown and got a job as a accounts payable clerk at Lipsett Steel Products in Coatesville, PA. After about three years I got my "dream job" in a major city bank - Girard Bank, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. For 37 years I worked at five different banks before returning to the hospitality industry. In 2001 I began working as a night auditor at the Hampton Inn in Exton, Pennsylvania. Eventually I worked my way "up" to front desk clerk and sales associate. I now work at a boutique hotel in Lewes, Delaware. Up until last week I only worked two nights a week and filled in where necessary due to absences and schedule changes. Recently I was asked if I could fill in for the front desk clerk who was about to go on pregnancy leave. I agreed and here I am, back to working full time at 66 years old. Perhaps the main difference this time is I love where I work, who I work with, and the kind of work I do (I love meeting people and providing service for them.) And, this is very important, the commute is excellent! Now I have to get ready for work.

"Do You Have Any Availability Tonight?"

"No, we are fully occupied." That the answer I give to the many phone calls I received this weekend asking if there were any rooms available at the bed and breakfast where I work. Notice that I don't say "We're sold out." That is so rude and crude. No, the correct answer is "We're fully occupied." I worked the 7 am to 3 pm this Saturday and Sunday. This was like a trial run for when I'm working full time for six weeks beginning August 27th when the regular daytime front desk clerk goes on maternity leave. It's been awhile since I've worked full time. It wasn't too long ago when I worked at my banking job and worked evenings at the Hampton Inn in Exton, PA. How did I do that? This was back in 1998 to 2001. I was way younger then. I didn't plan on my work schedule being like that, it happened gradually. I had left one full time job at a bank and got a temporary job working as night auditor at the Hampton Inn. After about three months my job at the Hampton Inn transitioned to the evening shift which I liked very much. Another bank offered me a job which I took with the consideration that I could leave that banking job an hour early each day I work the evening at the hotel. That situation worked well for a couple of years until there was a change of management at the hotel. I left the Hampton Inn and worked full-time at the bank. One good thing about working two jobs at the same time was that I was able to save a ton of money and it cured me (temporarily at least) of my shopaholic tendencies. An interesting development had developed since I moved to Delaware, I don't have the urge to "go shopping" like I used to when I lived in Pennsylvania. I'm not a psychiatrist, but the reason I probably was a shopaholic was that I was bored. I'm not bored now, especially this past weekend. Someday I'll write a book about my experiences in the hospitality industry. Believe me, real life is much more interesting than made up stories my script writers and novelists. After work last night, I felt like I had to unwind so I asked Bill to go with me for a ride down to the local McDonalds for milkshakes(which is miles away - nothing is close by here in Slower Lower.) That was a mistake. I got greedy and ordered large milkshakes for both of us. That was a large intake of chemicals. Then, on the way home, darkness descended on the roads and the rains began. It's been awhile since I drove at night and in the rain. The experience is like driving with a blindfold on except for the glaring headlights of oncoming traffic. So there we were, bloated with the sugar infused, chemical laced McDonalds milkshakes, wondering who had the bright idea to take a ride. One good thing, I got a nice sunset picture while sitting in the McDonald's parking lot. Next time we'll have smoothies at home.

Часть 2 Sasha

When we last visited Sasha, the new room attendant from Russia, she had just begun working at the bed and breakfast where I work the front desk. She was shy, unsmiling, and very serious as she kept her head down as she concentrated on doing her job of cleaning her assigned rooms. I work part-time at the Inn during the evening shift so I haven't seen her for awhile. Last Saturday night I saw her again. Now Sasha is a smiling and confident girl/woman. A remarkable transformation has occurred from the last time I saw her. She now walks with her head up and a quiet Mona Lisa smile. This past Saturday night we needed a room attendant to come in for the turn down service. None of the regular housekeeping staff volunteered. Some joked that the Mike (the manager) may have to come in and do it himself. Late Friday afternoon Sasha stopped by the Inn en route to her other job as a sales clerk at a local gift shop. I had an eureka moment. I suggested to Mike that he ask Sasha to come in and do the turn down service. He asked her and she readily agreed, saying she could come in after her work shift was completed at the gift shop where she was working. Thus, at 8:20 PM, Sasha confidently walked through the door of the Inn with her backpack secure on her back. She changed into her uniform, got her cart (to pick up the dirty towels and exchange them for clean, white fluffy towels) and a supply of packets of chocolate chip cookies shaped like walnuts to place on the pillows of the turned down beds. Two hours later, Sasha pulled her last cart full of dirty towels into the laundry room and left a now empty box of those chocolate chip cookies/walnuts. She changed out of her uniform and with a Russian accented merry "Have a good night Ron!", she went out into the darkness of the night. A happy ending to what was earlier a problem. Mike's night was saved (he had to baby sit his new baby because his Russian born wife was working at her waitress job at a nearby restaurant) and I didn't have to run around like a crazy man trying to man the front desk and perform turn down service on all the rooms (full house Saturday night) at the Inn. Thank you Sasha and may you have many happy days ahead!